Our Town

Translated by Jerrold Landau

Our Town Ruzhany

Our town Ruzhany remains whole in my memory, without weakness; and to this day
remains before my eyes as alive and bustling, as it was when I left it. It does
not enter the imagination at all that our town, which raised an entire
community of Jews, nurtured many generations, gave rise to hundreds and
thousands of sons and daughters, sent many to various lands throughout the
seven seas and kept many of them in their own place, was suddenly destroyed
completely, wiped off the face of the earth, and remains as a dream in the
hearts of those who knew it at that time.

The Beautiful Landscape

The beauty of Ruzhany's landscape was known throughout the region. When
approaching the town, a visitor would already be impressed by the Slonim
Valley. A road wound atop this hill between the Christian cemetery with its
prominent birch trees on one side, and the green valley of the Klibner Road on
the other side. The road enchanted the eye of those beholding it from the
higher street. The low houses dotted with numerous gardens laden with fruits
and vegetables raised their heads above like white pitched roofs. The burnt
castle, some distance away on the hill, rose above everything, adding
additional impressiveness to the general view.

Continuing onward on the downward slope of the Slonim hill, the visitor would
immediately find himself in the center of the town. He would see a large
marketplace with many stores standing in straight rows like soldiers during a
practice. The Catholic and Pravoslavic churches stood on the two sides, with
their spires and crosses rising up.

Schloss Gasse was considered to be the main street of the town. The importance
of this road was that it connected Baranovich with Brisk via Slonim, Ruzhany
and Pruzhany. Those walking on the road could also continue their journey on
the side streets. This road possessed extra importance due to its fine houses,
and especially to the textile factories that were once centered around this
road. Even after these factories disappeared from the horizon in the fire of
1915, this road maintained its earlier grace and significance. On Saturday
nights, when people went out to chat in the evening, the road bustled with the
crowds of people out for a stroll, especially the section that extended from
the Slonim Road to the fire hall, and further on to the bridge over the Canal
Stream.

The Canal Stream (Kanal Teichl), which wound its way quietly through the heart
of the town, added extra grace to this street. This river crossed Schloss Gasse
and Milner Gasse, and continued its way peacefully through the green meadows of
the alleys of the other side of the river until it emptied into the
Zlabay River.

The second most important road in the city was the long, broad Milner Gasse.

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The Napoleon Tower on the Liskova Mountains near Ruzhany

This street has large houses until the alley of the other side of the
river, and from that point on, it had wooden houses. If you traverse the
entire length of the road, you will reach the Zlabay River flowing at its edge.
This river was the bathing place of the townsfolk during the hot summer days.
As you cross the wooden bridge over the river, you would reach the Liskova
Mountains (which were hills that were not too tall, but were called mountains
due to the lack of mountains in the region). On one hill there is the remains
of a tower that is known as Napoleon's Tower. Popular folklore claims that
Napoleon erected this town as a lookout point in 1812 when he crossed through
the town on his way to Russia. It is possible that there were battles in the
area of Ruzhany at that time.

If you turn left from these Liskova Mountains, you would reach the Jewish
settlement of Konstantinova, one of the two Jewish settlements that were
established near Ruzhany.

A long and broad road leads northward from the town marketplace to outside the
town. Houses surrounded by trees line both sides of that road. As the road
continues, there is a broad area covered with wheat fields. Continuing on that
road, one would reach the large Bliznaja Forest. From that point, the road is
known as Bliznaja Gasse. This forest attracts many convalescents in the summer,
who are housed in a building that was set up near the Smolnia (a place where
turpentine was extracted from the forest trees).

Going eastward from the intersection of Schloss Gasse and Pruzhany Street, the
vista opens to the short, broad Goszcziniec Street. This street leads to a
broad road that leads to the other Jewish settlement of Pavlova, two kilometers
from the town.

There was a synagogue on almost all of the roads in the town, such as
Goszcziniec, Milner Gasse, Klibaner Gasse, and Kanal.

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However, most of the houses of worship in our town were centered in the
synagogue courtyard, called Shul Hauf. From there, the voices of worshippers in
the Talmud Torah, the Maier Beis Midrash, the Aguda, and the Tehillim could be
heard. Prior to the fire of 1895, the Tailors Synagogue and the Shiva Kruim
Synagogue were also located there. The Great Synagogue of the town was at the
center of all of the synagogues on the Shul Hauf, rising in all of its splendor.

Heard from Yosef Abramovitch during the memorial to the martyrs of Ruzhany

The Synagogues of Ruzhany

As has already been mentioned, our town had a significant number of synagogues.
The main one was the Great Synagogue, rising in splendor from the Shul Hauf. It
was re-erected after the first fire in 1875, and built in the same place where
the Great Synagogue that had been constructed in 1657 in memory of the two
martyrs had stood.

During the latter period, Avigdor Michel Goldberg, Moshe Zisking the smith (the
jeweler) and, may he live, Abba Leviatan, served as gabbaim (synagogue
trustees) during the latter period. Cantor Gershon Kaplan conducted services on
special Sabbaths and festivals. Eizenstein served as the wonderful Torah reader
on Sabbaths.

The Maier Beis Midrash was located near the Great Synagogue. It was never
locked. During the day it served as the place of worship for many members of
the community including the rabbi and rabbinical judge, as well as a place of
study for the Talmud study group. At night, it served as a hostel for any guest
who wished to stay over. Meir Guber and Nota Lisovitzki were the gabbaim. The
beadle (shamash) was Leizer der Shamash, one of the four Leizers in the town.
The three others were Leizer Liboshitzki, an educated Jew; Leizer Goldin and
Leizer Hachanski. All of them lived long. The biggest joker of them was Leizer
Liboshitzki. He would say, A man lives until 70 years, and then he is
born again, so a 75 year old is like a 5 year old. Another one of his
sayings was, The table stands on four legs, and the world  on the
four Leizers. When Leizer the Shamash was about to die, Leizer
Liboshitzki joked and said, The table is wobbling  the world is
shaking.

The Tehillim Synagogue was also located on the Shul Hauf. For the most part,
tradesmen worshipped there. Leib the Carpenter (der Stoliar) was one of its
chief spokesmen for some time.

The nearby Talmud Torah served as a house of worship as well as an educational
institution. Aside from the relatively large study rooms, this building had a
small room where Aharon Yaakov Pitkowski lived, who served as the shamash in
the house of worship and also the first grade teacher in this educational
institution. He was dedicated to both jobs.

The two-story Aguda synagogue was also located in the Shul Hauf. The sound of
lads reviewing their Gemara lesson would burst forth from the second floor
windows. The guest house was located on the first floor of that building. It
had been moved from the Maier Beis Midrash by the two righteous women: Lipshe
the wife of Shimon the shochet, and Yenta Rushkin. There was also an old age
home on that floor.

There was a synagogue on the Other side of the River alleyway whose
name was the same as that of the street. Many tanners who lived in that area
around the Chwojnik tanning factory worshipped there.

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The south side of the Maier Beis Midrash

In front  the north side of the Great SynagogueOn the side  the east side of the Maier Beis Midrash

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The gabbaim of this synagogue were Abba Chwojnik and Leizer Segal.

The Gershonovitch Synagogue was located on Klibaner Street. It was named after
the descendent of one of the martyrs of Ruzhany. Aside from the many
Misdnagdim, a few Chaverim[1]worshipped there. The gabbaim of
that synagogue were Hershel Katzin and Yehoshua Soroka.

The Chaikin Synagogue rose above the Goszcziniec. This was far from the center
of the city, and the residents of that street worshipped there. The gabbai of
that synagogue was Gershon Lipowski. There was a Yeshiva in the Achim synagogue
on the Kanal. The gabbaim were the Polak brothers, from whence it derived its
name. About ten Hassidim lived in this town, and they gathered for prayer in
the house of one of them. Thus, the town was filled with the sounds of prayer
from end to end.

By Zeev Rushkin

Public Life in Ruzhany

During the First Half of the Last Half Century Prior to the Holocaust

Until approximately 50 years before the Holocaust, it was not customary for the
communal activists to be elected. They would come from the wealthy class, and
take the greatness and authority for themselves. For who would run the communal
affairs if not they? Indeed, some among them occupied themselves with communal
affairs in good faith, but there was no shortage of others who did as they saw
fit.

Throughout the latter 50 years, communal life advanced by giant steps. Great
changes took place in communal life. The wealthy gabbaim gave way to young
activists who from that time stood at the head of the communal institutions and
worked diligently to develop them. These young people stemmed from various
classes and were elected by the masses of the various parties and organizations
that existed in the town.

I wish to point out that our town was already very active in communal affairs
50 years ago. Communal, cultural and even self-defense institutions appropriate
to the times were founded. Everything was founded without assistance and
without external directions. With all this, the institutions were set up and
developed properly, and served as an example to others.

As has been said: for the most part, the communal leaders and activists carried
out their duties faithfully. There was never a case in Ruzhany where the
communal activists took advantage of their position for personal benefit.

Rabbis and Rabbinical Judges

When we speak about the community of Ruzhany and its activists 50 years ago, we
must mention positively the era when the Gaon Rabbi Shabtai Wallach of blessed
memory and the two rabbinical judges Rabbi Hirsch of blessed memory and Rabbi
Meir Idel of blessed memory headed the community. We can say that their upright
actions were the pride of the community.

Shochtim and Cantors

The shochtim Reb Shabtai and Reb Shimon, and the cantors Zisel Nishiozinski and
Gershon Kaplan, among others, were considered to be among the clergy of the
community.

Cantor Zisel Nishiozinski was famous for his pleasant voice. He had a
well-organized choir.

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He was he father of the director of the Yiddish theater in New York, and of Mr.
Avi-Leah, the professor of music in Israel.

Cantor Gershon Kaplan enchanted the townsfolk with his singing on festivals and
the High Holy Days. He was the father of Shlomo Kaplan, who today is the
conductor of famous choirs in Israel.

Other Communal Notables

The following were considered to be among the communal notables:

Reb Leizer Liboshitzki, who represented the community before the government
and issued passports. He was a learned, scholarly Jew, known for his general
knowledge. He was the father of the teacher and writer Aharon Liboshitzki, who
was later active in the large city of Lodz.

The government appointed rabbi, Eliahu Nota, who also had generous character
traits, was educated, and had influence in the city.

By law, the community was only responsible for providing for the religious
needs of the population, but in practice, communal life was far richer and
variegated due to the fact that numerous important communal institutions were
established and fortified.

From where did the community obtain the money needed for this? The principal
source was the mean tax, nicknamed the takseh.

From A. Leviatan

The Takseh (Meat Tax, Korovka)

As is known, an official Jewish community with the power to impose special
taxes on the population in order to maintain the communal institutions
established by the community did not exist during the Czarist era. The
government only officially recognized the rabbi of the town and the gabbai of
the synagogue, who had the authority to collect donations for religious
purposes. The rabbi and other members of the clergy received their salary from
the takseh.

This tax did not generally have a good name in the Jewish communities. For
many, the word takseh implied the strong-handedness of the
collectors, of personal privilege and easy profit for the wealthy
owners. This tax was symbolic of a despotic government that took
advantage of the poor. However, I can state with full certainty that there was
never any incident to justify this opinion in our town, at least during the
period that I lived there.

What is the nature of this tax? The authorities of that era permitted the
imposition of a tax on Jewish ritual slaughter (shechita), and allowed a
certain portion of the income to be given to the community for its religious
purposes.

According to the protocols of those days, the government of the city and the
district would lease the meat tax to the highest bidder. The official lessee
who was sent by the community would then lease this tax to another person who
paid an even higher price. In return, the second lessee would have the right,
with the agreement of the heads of the community and the gabbai of the
synagogue, to impose a tax that would yield some profit for himself as well. Of
course, when this tax was set, they would take into consideration the local
poor, ensuring that this tax would not be too onerous for them. The difference
between the prices of the two lessees would be the income of the community,
through which it would maintain the communal institutions, including the Bikur
Cholim (society for tending to the sick), the Hospital, the Talmud Torah, and
the Beis Midrash.

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Monthly payments (a form of a bribe) to the Pristov (police chief) and
supervising officer, so that they would not cause suffering to the Jews by
issuing a command to close the stores on Sundays, issue reports of lack of
cleanliness, or order the taverns to be closed due to lack of permits, etc.,
were also paid from this income.

In Ruzhany, the collection of the meat tax was organized as follows. On the
date set by the authorities, the person designated by the heads of the
community to collect the tax was sent from the regional city of Grodno. He
would then, without competition, lease the tax for the sum that was agreed upon
by the heads of the community at the outset (2,000 rubles).

For many years, the regular purchaser of that tax was the shamash of the Beis
Din (court of law) and also the head shamash of the synagogue, Chaim Leib
Shifrin. He was a quiet Jew, G-d fearing and intelligent, who was known in the
town as someone who suffices himself with little. He was always in good
spirits, full of faith, and comforted every person by saying: If G-d
wants, it will be good.

From A. Leviatan

From The Days of My Childhood in Ruzhany

(From the book For my Descendants)

I was born in Ruzhany in the district of Grodno on the 17th of Kislev 5629
(1869) to my parents Reb Yechiel Michel Pines and Chaya Tzipora, the daughter
of the renowned wealthy man Reb Shmarya Luria. Both of these houses were noble
in Torah, wisdom, charitable deeds, tending to guests, and other such good
traits. To this day, our life in our home in this quiet, small town passes
before my eyes.

The Home, The Sukka, and the Festival Days

From my childhood, I remember our large, nice house, with its large yard in
which we, the four sisters and our cousins, played. I remember well our Sukka
that stood in our yard. I helped decorate it nicely along with the older
people. I will never forget when we used to sit in it along with our wise,
noble grandmother, my parents, sisters, and many aunts and uncles.

I especially remember the festival of Passover with its large, set table,
decorated with flowers and the finest silver and porcelain vessels. There was a
splendid chandelier on the ceiling above, which spread light to the entire
room. The women were wearing silk and velvet clothing. Their heads, necks and
chests were adorned with fine ornaments that suited them well, and added grace
and nobility to their appearance. How lovely and how splendid! The men wore
kittel (white ritual robes) made out of the finest linen. Their yarmulkes on
their heads were made out of the same material. They appeared like angels to me
and to all of those around.

The Nights of Chanukah

How lovely were the nights of Chanukah, as well as all of our national holidays
in general. At that time, the nature of these holidays was entirely different
from what it is today. The entire family celebrated the holiday inside the
home, among friends and acquaintances. The festivities were not brought
outside, as is done nowadays, when the splendor and grace of the family are
missing, without the holiness of tradition. I remember one specific Chanukah
night.

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My father returned that night from Brisk with several guests. He brought them
into the parlor where the family was gathered. They came to the latke party and
the card game. Obviously, they also brought gifts to our house.

My Uncle's Wedding

I remember the wedding of my uncle Abba. I can still see the large rooms and
open doors through which one could go from room to room. The rooms were set up
through the length of the house. Crystal chandeliers were hanging throughout
the length on the ceiling. Each one had about 20 wax candles. It looked like
the whole house was immersed in electric light (at that time, there was still
no electricity in our town). The in-laws came from Warsaw, Mohilev, Grodno, and
Kovno. All of them stayed over in the rooms that were set up by the local
families in their homes. The wedding was celebrated for seven days and seven
nights. The entire town was astir.

Our Family

My grandfather Noach Pines had four brothers. Each of them had sons, daughters,
and great wealth. They owned a factory for blankets and woolen textiles for the
Russian army. (The Talmud Torah building, the hospital, and other Torah and
charitable institutions were run by the Pines family, who ruled over the city
and region as a sort of kingdom within a kingdom.) My grandfather Noach of
blessed memory had six sons and three daughters. All of them married into the
wealthiest and finest pedigreed families of that time. Zev Javitz, Berl
Friedlansky and Leibush Davidson were his in-laws. His sons also found wives
who were well-pedigreed and wealthy, from the family of Shmarya Luria and
others. Three of the sons married into the Pines family itself, for they
guarded the honor of the dynasty of this family and did not want to intermix
too much with other familles, as was the custom among noble families.

The Palace

I remember the palace that was called the Platz. The Russians burnt
it down during the last war[2]. Many of the Pines and Mintz family members
lived in this palace. We would go there to visit our uncles and aunts every
Sabbath. Surrounding it there were buildings built like fortresses and splendid
dwellings.

The entrance to the palace in Ruzhany

Itta Yellin

Translator's Footnotes

Chaverim means 'friends'. I suspect that there is a typo here, and the
intention was Hassidim. return

There is a footnote in the text here as follows: This refers to the First
World War. return

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